


The Smallest Acts of Kindness

by aintweproudriff



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Fluff and more fluff, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Character, fine ill make them like me, im so excited about writing nb buttons yall dont even know, nonbinary Buttons!!!!!!!!, thats what fanfiction is though right, there's no characters like me???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-02-01 01:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12694182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Prompt: [Buttons] comes home from work tired/upset, only to find that their boyfriends have done something special for them, which cheers them up.AKA working with kids is hard and Buttons needs a nap.





	The Smallest Acts of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> i totally projected my feelings about working at a daycare onto buttons. i also projected being nb onto buttons though, so its whatever

Buttons smiled at the group of little kids playing on the basketball court. Some of them Buttons knew, but there were a few of the older ones that they had never met. Those kids, they were so cute. Kindergarten and first grade-aged kids who were having genuine fun at their after-school daycare center. Buttons had never really had that; they had been a kid with a key ring in their backpack pocket since kindergarten. And even now, they pulled their ring of keys out of their coat pocket and clicked the button that would unlock their car. 

Sitting down in the driver’s seat, Buttons smiled again, this time with relief, as they grabbed their phone and lined up the music that they wanted to play. Seven songs to get home. 

Opening up a group message, Buttons laughed at what their boyfriends had sent during the time they were at work. A few memes, a message reminding them that they were loved, and a picture of their dog, Luna. They quickly typed out a message: “on my way home from work. Had a long day. Sorry if i don’t want to hang out tonight,” sent it, and put on their sunglasses. Buttons looked around the car, checking to make sure there were no little kids in their path, and backed out of the parking space slowly, nodding their head in time to the music. 

At the stoplight, they had to force their eyes to stay open, and turn up their music a little louder. And when the light tuned green, they rolled down their windows to let the cold, harsh air in. 

“I’ll crash when I get home,” they promised in a whisper. “For now, stay awake.”

They pressed the gas hard, rushing to get home. It was a good thing that Buttons knew this road like they knew their way around their own apartment, or it would have been much harder to navigate at this kind of speed. They were only five or so miles above the speed limit; they knew what they were doing. 

And, luckily, they were home before they could even understand they had taken the road home. 

-

“I’m-” they yawned “-home!”

From where Buttons stood, they couldn’t see the rest of the house because it was so dark. So they took a few steps inside, until they saw the strong pink light of the television casting a ray over the living room. 

“Buttons!” a voice - Jojo - yelled sleepily. “Hi sweetie!” 

Buttons laughed and walked over to where the voice was coming from. Sure enough, there were Henry and Jojo, laying on top of each other. Henry’s head nodded suddenly as he woke up. 

“B, I’m sorry,” he slurred, “we tried to, we tried to do somethin’ nice for you. We put on your favorite movie-”

Buttons looked at the television, where Henry was gesturing. Yep, there was Jennifer Aniston on the screen. 

“-and we got your favorite takeout, too. Cheesy ravioli from that Italian place.”

“But,” Jojo finished for his boyfriend, “we fell asleep.”

Buttons sat down on the couch next to them. “I see that,” they rested their hand on Henry’s shoulder. “I’m gonna go ahead and eat some of that pasta, I think, and then I’m gonna want a bath, alright? But then, we can for sure watch the movie, or we can just sleep.”

“Sleep.”

“Sleep.”

“Okay,” Buttons realized they were still using the voice they used with little kids, and had to turn it off. They coughed slightly. “Sleep it is.”

On the kitchen table sat a box of pasta, dripping with cheesy goop. Buttons grinned as they picked it up and put it in the microwave for exactly 33 seconds. The dull yellow light of the microwave made the dark kitchen look almost unearthly, and Buttons looked around at the home they loved so much. Wow, were they lucky. A job they loved at the childcare center, an adorable apartment, and two boyfriends who tried to do something cute for them but fell asleep before they could get home. It was sweet, they thought as the microwave beeped and they grabbed their food.

-

Henry and Jojo were already asleep again by the time Buttons finished their ravioli. Dorks. 

-

They went to the bathroom in the hopes of drawing a bath. They sounded like their mom: “taking a bath at the end of the day is the best way to relax and feel better,” but they sure thought it was true. But, they found, the bathroom light was already on, with the bathtub full. On the counter laid a bath bomb, a jar of bath salts, and a bath fizz. Underneath the bath salts was a note that read “Didn’t know which one you’d want. Here you go,” in Henry’s handwriting. 

Buttons giggled and stuck their hand in the water. Yeah, the water was freezing. They knew that they should have come home sooner, and now they regretted volunteering to help clean up. Shaking their head, they opted to put the bath bomb and everything else away, and drain the tub. They could take a bath later, if they really wanted to. For now, there were more important things in life to appreciate. 

-

Buttons sat down on the couch and gently lifted up Jojo’s head and set it in their lap. Henry’s hand reached up sleepily to rest on Buttons’s knee as they ran their hands through Jojo’s hair and leaned their head back. 

It had been a long day at work. There had been tears, a little blood from a scraped knee, and trouble sharing between friends. Buttons loved those snot-nose kids, as much as they would have hated them a few years ago. Their job was perfect, because they could comfort people who were hurt, and help shape the lives of little kids. They got to take care of other people. Not much could live up to that.   
But, they had to admit, it was nice to see someone else try to do the same for them. Even if it failed sometimes. 

Henry and Jojo would take care of Buttons, and Buttons would take care of them. That’s how this whole thing worked. Their breathing and heart rate slowed as they contentedly remembered that fact and drifted into much-needed sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it! let me know what you thought, and follow me on tumblr @javidblue


End file.
